‘The Flash’ Recap ‘Versus Zoom’

The Flash Recap ‘Versus Zoom’

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Barry has gotten faster so now it is time to get back to Earth-2 and stop Zoom. Team Flash has developed a tachyon device that is attached to the suit that helps Barry travel four times faster than Zoom. Now all they have to do is figure out how to open a breach. Harry refuses to help, saying that they should just let Zoom be, but that’s not Barry. Eventually, they realize that Cisco is the key to reopening the breaches. If Cisco can tap into his full potential, he could get them back to Earth-2. When Cisco tries and it seems to be working, he panics and refuses to do it. He believes that the more of his powers he uses, the closer he will be to becoming Reverb, but naturally he explains this to Barry in terms of Star Wars (I love Cisco). Barry convinces him that that will never happen because Cisco has him and Caitlin. He has a family.

Speaking of family, we find out why Zoom is the way that he is. The episode begins with a parallel between Barry losing his mother to Reverse Flash and a young Jay Garrick, aka Hunter Zolomon, losing his mother to an abusive father. Hunter’s father, dressed like The Flash of Earth-2, presents his son the helmet before making him watch as he murders his mother. Hunter is taken to an orphanage because nobody else would take him in. He then grew up to be a serial killer before being caught and placed in a psychiatric hospital. They treated him with electroshock therapy and that’s what was happening the night the particle accelerator exploded. Hunter then went on to become both Earth-2’s Flash and Zoom. His reasoning for this is that it was fun to give people hope as Jay Garrick and then rip it away as Zoom.

Before Team Flash puts their plan to stop Zoom into action, Caitlin reveals that Jay’s Earth-1 doppelganger is Hunter Zolomon. Harry tells the team all about Zoom’s past and this causes them to change a little bit of their plan. They are going to catch him off- guard by using his family against him. Cisco opens the breach and Zoom appears. He and Barry race around Central City. The tachyon device works and Barry is too fast for Zoom to catch. They end up at S.T.A.R. Labs where cardboard cutouts of Zoom’s parents distract him. Barry then uses the device that Patty used against him a couple episodes ago to tether him to the ground. Barry and Hunter (that’s what I’m going to call him from now on) talk, but this gives Hunter enough time to regain his composure and break free of the restraints. He attacks Barry, then flees. When Barry, Iris, and Joe go home, they find the place in shambles. Upstairs is a message saying that Hunter will trade Wally for Barry’s speed.

Wally is being held in Hunter’s Earth-2 prison, and the man in the mask is still there. Hunter tells Wally that he is there because someone on the Flash’s team cares for him. I now think that it is only a matter of time before Wally finds out the truth. Barry has Cisco use Hunter’s helmet to call him back to Earth-1. He has decided that the only way to win is to give Hunter what he wants. Hunter shows up and returns Wally. Harry then uses the device he built to drain Barry’s speed, which Hunter promptly injects himself with. Hunter attacks Barry and would probably have killed him if not for Caitlin. She talks Hunter down, but then he grabs her and runs off, ending the episode.

We got a lot of answers to questions this episode. Zoom and Earth-2 Flash were the same person. The reason Hunter was able to kill Jay is because Jay was a past version (a time remnant) that Hunter convinced to be killed. He knew that it was the only way to further his plan and get Barry’s speed. The death of their friend would motivate them beyond anything. At least he only killed a version of himself and not a member of Team Flash.

We still don’t know who the man in the mask is. This secret might be eating at me more than who was under Zoom’s mask. We did get one hint this episode as Barry asked who it was. Hunter’s response was, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I just want to know! There are two possibilities that I have thought of following last night’s episode. One could be Hunter’s father. He hates the guy, so why not lock him up. Another is the Earth-2 version of Wally. This one would make the most amount of sense. What if the actual Flash of Earth-2 was supposed to be Wally West, but
Hunter tracked him down before he could reveal himself to world. Wally could have had a similar past as his current self, growing up not knowing who his true family was. His mother could have died earlier in his life and he ended up at the orphanage along with Hunter. They became friends but then Hunter turned evil. The lack of an Earth-2 doppelganger for Wally was mentioned in the episode by Joe. Could he have been taken hostage by Hunter? He is going to great lengths to make sure the man’s identity remains a secret.

The next episode of The Flash is entitled “Being Normal.”